Earning My Body

Happy Friday the 13th! Although I'm excited about the date, I'm not too excited about how things have been going. I'll try to keep this update short, but I feel like a lot has happened.

In terms of weight, I'm right back where I started at the beginning of this blog. But that isn't what has me down. A few weeks ago I threw out my back. I couldn't move, literally. It was the most pain that I had ever been in during my life. It put me down for an entire weekend and a few days after. Before that, I had been working out regularly and I was doing really well. I started going to Turbo Kick at my gym and I loved it.

Fast forward to this week. On Sunday, I'm sitting at home with my parents having lunch and I get this pain in my left shoulder blade. Shooting, burning, stinging pain. Went to the doctor yesterday and find out that I'm having muscle spasms. It's impossible for me to workout with the kind of pain I've been in. If my shoulder isn't doing better by Monday, I will need to begin physical therapy. I have found out that pain makes me eat. Pain hurts, which makes me sad, and food makes me happy. I really need to work past this, but it will probably be the hardest thing I'll have to ever work through. 

I did my three weightlifting workouts this week, so I decided to add some cardio. That philosophy Venus Factor has about cardio makes you want to eat more, is totally true. All I want to do is eat food, right now! I'm doing the best I can to fight off the craving, but I'm struggling.

So this week has been okay. I've gotten my workouts in and eaten pretty well, the eating could be better. One thing I have noticed is that I have not been drinking enough water. I decided to buy a water infuser water bottle as a way to motivate myself to drink more.

I received it today and used it and I love it. I put honeydew and cantaloupe in the infuser and it was delicious. After I filled it with water and let it sit in the fridge for an hour the water was so flavorful. I'm very excited to use it everyday. I found a website with a bunch of recipes that I plan to try. My goal is to try every new one I encounter and I'm sure I'll come up with favorites. I can't wait!

10! 10! 10! I am 10 lbs down! I almost can't believe it! I have been doing the best I can and it has paid off so far. I'm proud of myself :)

The Venus Factor workouts are going well. My quads and butt are sore almost every day, but I love it. I do my workouts at home and I just keep pushing myself. When my reps get difficult I look myself in the eye and say "You can do this," "Almost there," or "Last set, let’s go." It makes me feel like I'm crazy sometimes, but if it works then I'm going to do it. I'm feeling strong and I love it!

My life has been kind of crazy with working two jobs, which is about 40-50 hours each week. The retail job is getting crazy with the holidays coming up. I'm happy that I have been able to still work toward my fitness goals while having this crazy schedule.

Speaking of crazy schedule, I got my Black Friday schedule today. I'm so happy with it. I'm going home to visit my family for Thanksgiving next week and dinner is planned for 3pm. My work is opening at 5pm and the starting shift begins at 4:30pm. I was super worried about having to leave early because my work is 2 hours away from my parents house. I AM SO HAPPY!!! On Thursday, I start at 11pm! I will get to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and not be rushed. I couldn't be happier about it!

Back! I'm back! I was missing for a few days but I have returned!

The conference was great! I was at NACA (National Association of Campus Activities) Mid America in Covington, Kentucky. I'm working on my Masters in Higher Education Administration and I want to work for universities. NACA is a conference where schools go and watch a bunch of performers, like bands, magicians, comedians, etc., and then, can book them to bring to their school. It was a great time. I always have so much fun at NACA conferences.

I didn't eat so well over the weekend though. Every meal was out or from the conference. We went to a local bar one night that had really good burgers, I couldn't say no to an awesome burger. So although I didn't eat so well, I still lost a pound. I'm down to 301! I'm just glad that I didn't mess up what I have done the past two weeks.

I contribute my success to two things. Number 1: fasting. Part of the Venus Factor program is fasting. They want you to wait for a minimum of 12 hours between the last thing you eat at night and the first thing you eat the next day. The philosophy behind it is that when you are fasting your body has to burn the fat you already have, not what you are taking in for the day. Number 2: African Mango Supplement. It’s also a recommended part of the Venus Factor. It "apparently" helps suppress your appetite and burns fat. I don't know about all of that, but I do know that I ate a lot of crappy food this weekend and I didn't gain any weight. I’m going to keep using it because, why not? It won’t hurt.

Woah! Do my quads kill or what? Sitting down and standing up are a joke. My butt and shoulders hurt too, but nothing compared to my quads. The Venus workouts really focus on creating that hourglass figure and toning the areas women have the hardest time with when trying to lose weight. Which means squats, squats, and more squats. There are so many and so many different kinds. I know it will be worth it but the soreness is always tough.

Whelp, didn't eat so well today but I don't think I went too far over. My coworkers wanted to use coupons for a free malt from the local malt shop. I really couldn't say no to a free malt. I think I'm addicted they are so dang good. Also, on campus they were handing out free Jimmy Johns samples to people who voted today. I sent in my absentee ballot in weeks ago and I wasn't going to turn down free food lol. Lastly, went to Cherry Berry tonight for frozen yogurt. Tried to stay away from the toppings but its so hard, cookie dough is good.

My thoughts are, if I'm eating better than I was before I started, then I'm doing well. Although this day sounds like it was terrible, I think it was better than before. For only one reason: I'm eating less overall and I'm not hungry. I used to eat so much food and always be hungry. Today I didn't eat super healthy foods, but I didn't eat a lot. I promise, I'm not starving myself. If I'm not hungry then I'm not going to eat. This is something I needed to work on. So far, I think I'm doing pretty well with it. 

So something I'm trying my hardest to do is not be hard on myself. If I eat poorly, I'm not going to hate or be mad at myself. It was the decision I made that day. It means I need to work harder at making better decisions, not at be down on myself. Negativity isn't going to get me closer to my goals.

I think today was pretty good overall. I went over my 1,000 calories but I was under 2,000, which included going out to dinner for Mexican. Every bite was delicious! YUM! 

I started the workouts for Venus Factor today. Like I mentioned, they are strength training focused. I've done strength training before but I didn't know what to expect with this. Dude, it kicked my butt, but felt great! My legs were shaking from my muscles struggling. But I know that means I'm working them hard. It was such a simple workout but it was really challenging. The picture below was today's workout. It took me about 45 minutes to finish, which wasn't bad at all. 30 seems too short sometimes and 60 is too long, so 45 is good with me.

I'm going to try my hardest to keep it up this week. However, this weekend I'm attending a conference where I won't be making my own food. I will do my best to find low calorie options and not binge but it's going to be difficult.

So it's a day early, but I stepped on the scale. 2 lbs down! I celebrate every success because it means I'm that much closer to my goal. Two pounds doesn't seem like a lot but this isn't a sprint. My goal is a marathon and every week is just a little bit closer to 26.2 miles. 

But I did start something new today. I've seen the before and after pictures floating around on this website and I was curious. I checked it out and almost every time it was a story about a woman who used the Venus Factor. So I started doing my research. It sounded interesting and nothing like I have heard of before. I kept searching and didn't find any negative reviews, just pros and cons lists. So I have decided to give it a try.

Venus Factor is a 12-week system based upon developing the ideal hourglass body shape. It's mostly based upon eating and keeping your calories low; after all it's only 12 weeks. It also focuses upon working out, but only weight lifting. Their philosophy is that cardio makes you burn more carbohydrates than fat, whereas, weightlifting will burn fat and sculpt your muscles. 

When I started at my gym, back in 2012, I really enjoyed my weight lifting classes. I loved how strong I felt, the power on my muscles, and the satisfaction when I could move up a weight. I think I will do well with this system focusing upon weight lifting, as long as, I can keep my eating under control.

In Venus Factor, you find your measurements and enter them into their special calculator. Then it tells you how much you should be eating. The more fat you have the less calories you eat because this will require your body to burn your stored fat. Of course, I am allotted 1,000 calories a day, so not many. I am going to do my best to try to stick to my amount but I'm also not going to worry about deviating, as long as, it's not binging. If I'm not going over more than 2,000 calories a day then I am going to lose weight. Going under so drastically will just help it come off faster.

It's been a crazy two days. Went to the doctor yesterday to make sure this sore throat isn't strep. Thankfully it's not, just a virus that will get worse over the next few days. Going to turn into a cough and congestion. Just gotta treat the symptoms. So that's exciting, eye roll.

Still trying to make sure that I don't go over my calorie goal every day even though I feel like crud. I'm trying to stick to soft foods that won't hurt. It's been okay.

I haven't exercised because my energy is totally drained. But I did work at my retail job all day today, so standing and walking around for 8 hours was better than sitting on my butt. 

Woke up with a sore throat today, which sucked. Went to work at the retail store and to my graduate assistantship not feeling my best. Still have the sore throat this evening and I’m super tired after that traumatic experience yesterday and so I decided to skip the workout today. It might not be such a good idea to leave the gym with wet hair when the winter is fast approaching. Hopefully I will be feeling better tomorrow.

A friend once told me, "My grandma says you can eat whatever you want when you’re sick." How I wish that was true! I didn't want to ruin everything I have worked hard for this week because I feel like crap one day. I didn't have the best day; I was over my calorie goal by less than 100 calories. That honestly isn't terrible for how I felt today. I'm not trying to make excuses and be okay with not working hard, because I’m not. I will work hard and earn my body. But illness happens, and as long as you don't throw in the towel completely while you are sick then you are doing well. At least this is my opinion.